A culinary tour of Cluj

After almost two months in the countryside and in the mountains, Cluj makes a welcome change for a couple of days. Although I’ve visited the unofficial capital of Transylvania a fair few times by now, it still does a good job at surprising me. After some serious hiking in the Apuseni Mountains, me and my hubby – who is flying back home as I write – felt we needed to feed ourselves well. Below is a little culinary tour of Cluj, suitable for vegetarians as well – spending time in the countryside and in the mountains means eating considerably more meat than I’d normally feel comfortable with. So we resorted to restaurants with veggie options – which isn’t at all difficult in Cluj.

Samsara Foodhouse

The first thing we did upon arrival was head to Samsara Foodhouse, which I had previously declared to be my favourite restaurant in Cluj. As said, we felt like eating something vegetarian and healthy, and Samsara happens to be the most amazing veggie/vegan/raw restaurant I know. We’re not fulltime vegetarians and the words ‘raw’ and ‘vegan’ can sound a bit off-putting to me, but Samsara has made them sound much more accessible to me. Their menu is incredibly varied, and if it didn’t say vegan next to the (very good) pictures (the dishes look as good in real life), I might not even have noticed the mushroom soup and the foccacia with bell pepper hummus were vegan. My favourite dish is their tagliatelle with forest mushrooms, cream and parmesan – the mushroom and spinach lasagna and roasted aubergine dish (a bit like a melanzane) follow closely. We supplemented our main courses with a gorgonzola, walnut, grape and rocket salad.

Wilbert digging into his mushroom and spinach lasagne

My favourite: tagliatelle with boletus mushrooms, cream and parmesan

‘Sa va fie de bine’ is what Romanian waiters say after your meal. I think it translates into something like ‘I hope it does you good.’

Samsara Foodhouse | Stephan Ludwig Roth 5

Kaja Tanya

After our copious dinner, Wilbert felt he needed some coffee to revive himself, so I took him to Kaja Tanya, another favourite of mine in a quiet spot off Strada Universitatii. Their menu is simple but good – they do really nice savoury pancakes with a choice of fillings (I tried spinach and cheese) and serve traditional food as well. It has a very homely feel and everything is very affordable.

Coffee time!

‘We do speak English.’ 😉

Kaja Tanya | Strada Inocentiu Micu Klein 11

Union Square

And then there was breakfast at Union Square, at Piata Unirii. Perhaps not altogether imaginatively named, but the menu is worthy of praise. We both opted for the scrambled eggs with baby spinach, toast and parmesan sauce, which we wolfed down before I could take a picture – that says something. It doesn’t just mean we were hungry – it was among the most delightful breakfasts I’ve ever had. And because I felt I could have another one, we both ordered cappucinos (decaf for me) and cheesecake with forest fruit sauce. Which was another good decision – between every two bites I had to declare how heavenly it was. Cheesecake has a tendency to get dry and crumbly when overbaked – this one was smoother than you could imagine. And then there was the orange cake smoothie and the above average quality of the mint tea. I usually avoid places on central squares because they tend to be unoriginal, but I’ll have to pass on my judgment this time. Union Square doesn’t have a website, but it has a facebook page – although it will change its name in the near future, and part of the menu. The waiter promised to keep the cheesecake on it though.

Doesn’t it look tempting?!

Union Square Caffe | Piața Unirii 14

Bujole

If you’re an early riser and Union Square is still closed, its next-door neighbour Bujole provides a good alternative. I had an omelette with green asparagus, goats’ cheese and semi-sundried tomatoes and was pleased.

Olivo

Olivo is on another main street (Eroilor Boulevard), but its menu struck my fancy so I decided to give it a go. I wanted to see if their truffle and mushroom tagliatelle could compete with Samsara’s. It was good – but I’d still opt for Samsara in the end for this dish. It had some nice additions though – green asparagus and a variety of seeds among them. Olivo is a small cozy place and the menu looked interesting enough, and they roast their own coffee – it’s definitely worth trying.

Truffle and mushroom tagliatelle with green asparagus, a variety of seeds and parmesan

Inside Olivo

Looking in from the street – the facade is open

Olivo Caffe | Bulevardul Eroilor 7

Camino

This was our first breakfast in Cluj after Wilbert’s arrival – it made a good start to our holidays. Camino is situated in a 16th century palace so definitely has the looks. We loved their omelette with sundried tomatoes (and other ingredients I can’t remember right now). Their cappucinos are the size of a bath. They also have six vegetarian pasta options.

Omelette and coffee bath

Inside Camino

Camino | Piata Muzeului 4

Wine!

Did you know Romania is one of the world’s largest wine producers, and sixth largest among European wine-producing countries? Probably not. Romanian wines definitely deserve more attention. We’re convinced by now, so we set off to find some good bottles for Wilbert to take home (I made him promise to save them until I get home). We bought a bottle of Rara Neagra from the Durcari vineyard at Bruno wine bar (thank you Sânziana for the recommendation!), and found the divine white Epicentrum we had at Samsara earlier (Aligote & Muscatel-Ottonel) at Crama Noastra. And when I walked to the swimming pool through Parcul Central this afternoon, I passed another interesting-looking wine and delicatessen shop, bearing the lofty name of Comtesse du Barry. I didn’t buy anything there but could see a tempting selection of cheese through the window.

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2 thoughts on “A culinary tour of Cluj”

I can`t tell how happy I am to know that there is somebody who appreciates and describes my country as it should be described, I mean the real good think about it .And this is perfectly done by you . Thank you very much !
Since I am new on `Roamaniac`, I don`t know if you have already visited the city of Alba Iulia, which is my native town .In case you haven`t, let me tell you it is worth a thousand times doing it ! And, with the due respect, let me tell you that the first capital city of Romania was Alba Iulia, and now Cluj is, somehow, named instead as being a larger city. One-in-one, we, the romanians of the whole Transylvania, are glad and proud to live in this country, with its wonderful cities, mountains, rivers, and everything that breaths herein .I, personally, moved at Dobrogea, in Constanta, after graduating university, but, after 34 years, I HAD to come back to Apuseni Mountains, with my family, and we HAPPYLY live now here, in the village of Garda de Sus . We won`t change our location for all the gold . Here is real life !
Sincerely,
Ioan Burcuta.-

Thank you for your warm words. As you can see I am very much in love with Romania. 🙂 Yes, I have visited Alba Iulia – several times by now, and I loved it. I will probably write about it at some point, although I am sure I have only seen a tiny part of it. And I couldn’t agree more – this is the life!